A blog on politics and education, supporting socialist ideals and equality of opportunity. Against obscene wealth and inequality.

Thursday, 26 January 2017

Letter on May`s "alternative facts"

Fending off questions with bland, repetitive and obfuscatory phrases is clearly
becoming the default position, not only of the prime minister, but of the entire
Tory government, as illustrated this week over Trident, and earlier in the
month, by the transport secretary over the Southern Rail crisis. Of course, May
knew about the missile failure; of course, parliament wasn`t informed in case
support in the vote for Trident`s renewal was reduced. In concealing critical
truths from parliament, and therefore from the public, they are proving
themselves as duplicitous as the previous government. "Deliberately misleading
parliament", which is what May is accused of by the Stop the War convener,
Lindsey German, is clearly now official government policy (Morning Star,
24/01/17).

We see it every week at PMQs, when perfectly
sensible and pertinent questions from Jeremy Corbyn, and other opposition MPs,
are either not answered at all, or responded to with irrelevancies or false
claims, with the Speaker failing to offer any reprimand, or even a reminder of
the purpose of the session.

The trouble is this
government tactic works, because it is allowed to: claims that the NHS is not in
crisis, that no recruitment problems exist in the teaching profession, that the
country cannot afford increased pay for carers, and that everyone`s taxes need
reducing, are repeated so much, they must be true! As if there ever was an
"economic long-term plan", or is likely to be a "northern powerhouse", or even
help for the "just about managing"? No-one in the mainstream media says the
government is lying to us, but what else is it? Being "economical with the
truth"?

How can the
"effectiveness of the UK`s independent nuclear deterrent" not be in doubt, as
Fallon says, when its missile "malfunctioned"? How can we criticise the Trump administration for its propensity to
use "alternative facts", when our government adopts the same
tactic?